So just what is this wonderful sales method? In a nutshell, the patent claims ownership over the idea of finding out what a customer wants, electronically finding out what you have that matches that customer's needs, electronically collecting information about the stuff you have to offer the customer, and putting that information into a pitch to the customer.

If you're thinking to yourself, "why that's no different than just looking things up in a catalog," you're not alone; while seeking a closely related patent, the very same applicant told the patent office, "The system essentially computerizes a parts book, with the exception that the system adds the unique element of customer benefits." (I tried, and failed, to figure out what the "unique element of customer benefits" refers to.)

Indeed, if you remove the word "electronically," the patent covers exactly what sales people have been doing for customers for ages. Unfortunately for the patent owner (and fortunately for the rest of us), saying "do it with a computer" does not an invention make.

It’s almost too strange to believe, but a federal court ruled earlier this year that copyright can be used to control access to parts of our state and federal laws—forcing people to pay a fee or sign a contract to read and share them. On behalf of Public.Resource.Org...

There’s a bill in the California Assembly that we think would make postsecondary education more expensive for students. Not only that: we think that it would undermine students’ right to make fair uses of educational materials. To make matters worse, several states around the country appear to be considering similar...

Update 5:00pm: Zillow has released a statement saying the company has "decided against moving forward with legal action." EFF is pleased that Zillow has withdrawn its threat and won't be seeking to take down any of the posts on McMansion Hell. We hope that other companies seeking to shut...

Mandatory Filtering Proposals Curb CompetitionWhen looking at a proposed policy regulating Internet businesses, here’s a good question to ask yourself: would this bar new companies from competing with the current big players? Google will probably be fine, but what about the next Google?In the past few years, some large movie...

EFF, joined by Public Knowledge, filed an amicus brief today asking the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to revisit one of its worst decisions ever. Three years ago this month, in Oracle v. Google, the Federal Circuit held that the Java Application Programming Interfaces...

In 2011, Colombian graduate student Diego Gomez shared another student’s Master’s thesis with colleagues over the Internet. After a long legal battle, Diego was able to breathe a sigh of relief today as he was cleared of the criminal charges that he faced for this harmless act of sharing...

One of the most significant events that took place at this month's meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), that EFF attended, wasn't part of the meeting's formal agenda. It came at a side-meeting organized by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an affiliate of...